The rash of upsets at Wimbledon this week have sharpened the focus of defending champion Serena Williams.
Rafael Nadal was knocked out at the first-round juncture, while Maria Sharapova and reigning men’s champion Roger Federer were dumped out in SW19 on Wednesday.
There were no such shocks on Court One, though, as Williams navigated her way past up-and-coming French teenager Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-2.
The American feels her performance was better than she showed in the first round against Mandy Minella and revealed the shock results elsewhere have acted as a warning shot against complacency.
“The first thing I do is say, ‘Okay, Serena, stay focused’,” Williams said.
“This has happened before. I don’t know when. I want to say it was the US Open, though. A lot of players were losing.
“I definitely want to stay focused and stay serious so that’s what I did again yesterday. I was like, ‘Okay, be on your toes and be ready for anything’.”
Already the overriding title favourite, the exits of second seed Victoria Azarenka and third seed Sharapova have seen one bookmaker price Williams’ nearest rival as far out as 19/1.
The American is not getting ahead of herself and in the third round she faces Kimiko Date-Krumm. The 42-year-old from Japan is the oldest woman to reach the Wimbledon third round in the open era.
“Kimiko has great hand-eye co-ordination,” Williams said. “She returns unbelievable shots. It doesn’t matter how hard you hit it, she sees the ball and gets it back.”
Date-Krumm said after her victory over Romania’s Alexandra Cadantu (6-4, 7-5): “I’m very happy to be the third round, even though I’m 42. It’s amazing, I cannot believe it.
“This year I skipped many clay-court matches so I could focus on grass, so I’m very happy.”
Agnieszka Radwanska earned her second crushing win of the week to reach the third round as she impressed on Centre Court.
The Polish fourth seed reached her first grand slam final in London last year and looks in the mood to get through to another, but to do so she may have to beat Serena Williams, her conqueror 12 months ago, in the semi-finals.
Radwanska dropped just two games in her opener against Yvonne Meusburger and was almost as frugal yesterday beating France’s Mathilde Johansson 6-1 6-3 win.
Next for Radwanska is a stiff test against American 18-year-old Madison Keys, a player strongly tipped to join her in the top 10 before long.
Keys saw off 30th seed Mona Barthel yesterday, after beating Britain’s Heather Watson in her opener.
Asked about Keys, Radwanska said: “I’ve never played her before so I think it’s going to be another good challenge and we’ll see.”